WINDSWEPT "The Onlooker"

WINDSWEPT

"The Onlooker"

A couple of weeks ago, we had the polar vortex attack my part of the country with temperatures around 40 below zero if not more. Well, Windswept has given us a sequel with their frigid yet furious "The Onlooker". This Ukrainian outfit with strong ties to Drudkh has delivered as pure and primal a blast of black metal as you could hope to hear in this day and age.

Many are the current BM bands trying to recreate the essence of the 90's. With Windswept we have a band that not only understands the speed and aggression necessary for great Nordic BM but also the underlying melody and epic feel it requires. This is an ice cold slap across the face, with some odd quirks that give it a little more depth than the typical "tribute" act. After the peculiar intro "I'm Oldness and Oblivion" (they have an obsession with old age and its miseries...part of what sets them apart), "Stargazer" is ferocious, freezing black metal so pure that it could be a template for the style. You really need to it here it to understand, as words just don't do justice to how "right" this sounds. They then continue the onslaught without mercy, but I notice Windswept has the wisdom to put subtle changes into their tunes that keep them distinct despite the fact that speed and cold is in every tune.

Repetition plays a part as it usually does with most black metal, creating a hypnotic effect in "A Gift to Feel Nostalgia" and "Insomnia of the Old Men". The instrumental "Gustav Meyrink's Prague" has some cool melodic flourishes that make it almost progressive. Incidentally, if you don't know who Gustav Meyrink is, Google him...one of the greatest occult writers of the 20th century. By the time that "Bookworm, Loser, Pauper" comes barreling in to end the album, Windswept's relentless approach is starting to wear just a wee bit thin. But this one concludes things and there has been no significant drop in power and quality.

I hope this review will point you in the direction of "The Onlooker", a black metal album of a type we hear very seldom these days.

SEASON OF MIST

WINDSWEPT